Corruption in sport matters, even if you
are not a sports fan. The arrest of
senior FIFA officials and the re-election of Sepp Blatter as President of FIFA
throw up some stunning issues and comparisons.

After the FIFA World Cup was awarded to
Russia for 2018 and to Qatar for 2022 there were mumblings and grumblings that
all was not as clean as it should be. For
the unsuccessful bidders it seemed that it was more than just a case of sour
grapes. For a long time FIFA, an
organisation which had revenues of $5.7 billion between 2011 and 2014 was
opaque in its dealings and riddled with corruption. When New York lawyer, Michael Garcia was
asked to conduct a review of the process many hoped for a transparent report. Garcia, a former chair of the FIFA ethics
committee and a person highly committed to integrity, produced a 500 page
report which FIFA declined to release.
In November 2014 they did however release a 40 page summary prepared by
a German judge, Hans-Joachim Eckert.
Garcia claimed the Eckert report was incorrect and incomplete and
contained erroneous representations of the facts. Garcia resigned from FIFA's
ethics committee, and his report has never been released.

While FIFA thought it might have contained
the damage and dispensed of a thorn it its side (Garcia) it comes as no
surprise that last Thursday several FIFA board members were arrested in
Switzerland as they were assembling for FIFA's annual meeting. Those arrested on corruption charges now face
extradition to the US for trial.

The day after the arrests, Mr Blatter
was re-elected as President. He seems
like a Boss Tweed presiding over Tammany Hall at its most excessive. FIFA, like Tammany, looked after the foot
soldiers. It brought them benefits they
would otherwise not have, and in order to dispense the largesse and patronage,
a revenue stream was necessary. In the
case of Tammany it was solicitation of bribes, manipulation and padding of
contracts, and a good dose of extortion.
In the case of FIFA it was much the same, though the contracts related
to broadcast rights, major infrastructure development, and the promise of
tourism largesse. The local football
associations were like the downtrodden New York immigrants wanting a better life,
and the promises and rewards for them were substantial. The gratitude was huge, and resulted in Mr
Blatter's re-election.

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Two things are important here. First the nature of corruption in sport and second
the global nature of corruption, and the role of one jurisdiction in taking
action.

The former US Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York, Loretta Lynch started the investigation. Lynch is now the US Attorney General. The charges allege that corrupt activities
took place outside the US, but as the actions affect interstate and foreign
commerce, and thus affects New York, the US has no qualms about bringing the
case under the RICO Act. The Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act of 1970 was designed to prosecute
crime syndicates that had taken over otherwise lawful organizations. Rather than being treated like Tammany Hall, FIFA
is being treated like the Mafia, according to Bloomberg Media and it reports
that RICO works by allowing the government to prove that a defendant
participated in a criminal organization and also committed at least two
criminal acts under other specified laws, including bribery and fraud. If the
government can prove that, the defendant is guilty of racketeering, and
qualifies for stiff sentences, the seizure of assets and potential
civil-liability lawsuits. The FBI had
conducted the investigation and the ensuing federal indictment lists 47 counts
including bribery, fraud, and money laundering.

With sport so much a transnational
activity worth many many billions of dollars there are numerous opportunities
for corruption. Corruption happens in
just about every sport and at just about every level. It ranges from match fixing to doping to
enhance or reduce performance, to improperly registering athletes or horses,
through to the award of massive construction and infrastructure projects,
tourism manipulation, and the increasingly lucrative media, broadcasting and
sponsorship arrangements. Sport is big
business and nobody doubts that.
However, sport is also deeply ingrained in the psyche of every country
and local district. People love their
sporting heroes, people get pride from their achievements, and people identify
with the successes and failures and see it as a significant part of human
endeavour. When the process is
corrupted, when people cheat and when people manipulate results, then something
significant is lost. When the 1919 World Series Baseball final was fixed by
gangster Arnold Rothstein it sent shockwaves throughout the whole of the
US. Against all odds the Cincinnati Reds
defeated the Chicago White Sox, and a lot of money was wagered on the
outcome. But more than this, it shook
the faith of the fans, it sowed seeds of distrust in children, it sent a
message that the best team did not necessarily win.

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And this is the story of corruption in
sport. The billions of fans worldwide
want to see excellence in human endeavour, and want to identify with high
performing, hard working and committed athletes. They don't want the result to be
pre-determined by gambling and crime operators.
By arresting FIFA members sports administrators are on notice that
integrity matters, and the huge lure of dollars, the massive patronage that can
be dispensed is not a plaything for greedy and kleptocratic officials.

Professor of School of Social and Policy Studies at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. Former Dean, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers, the State University of NJ. Long experience in government in Australia - held senior posts in both (more...)